China aiming to tame weather
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E-mail China Daily, September 5, 2013
Yao said a feasibility report for the northwest started recently and the program is expected to be launched within one year if everything goes well.
The northwestern area, including Gansu province, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and parts of Inner Mongolia, is the main source of the sandstorms in spring and autumn.
To better meet agricultural demand and relieve disasters, China plans to increase annual precipitation by 60 billion metric tons and extend the coverage of artificial hail suppression to more than 540,000 square kilometers by 2020, according to the State Council.
"Cloud seeding to coax rain can relieve agricultural drought, reserve water for lakes, cool down high temperatures and ease pollution," Yao said.
However, as cloud seeding is used on a massive scale, some critics have questioned whether there is an environmental impact as a result of manipulating the weather.
China commonly uses silver iodide, a hazardous substance and a toxic pollutant, for cloud seeding.
The country has used silver iodide to lessen the impact of periodic droughts since 1958.
But Lei Hengchi, a scientist specializing in weather intervention, said little impact would occur because the amount of chemicals in cloud seeding is too small compared with the size of the affected region.
Cloud-seeding aircraft use 200 grams to 300 grams of silver iodide during a flight. A rain-enhancement shell contains only 1 gram of silver iodide, while a rocket contains about 8 to 15 grams.
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